Using the critical behavior in Zn1−<i>x</i>Mn<i>x</i>Te to probe the relationship between quasi-two-dimensional and three-dimensional spin-glasses

Single-crystalline Zn1−xMnxTe is a three-dimensional (3D) monochalcogenide system that exhibits a prominent spin-glass transition at low-temperatures. This system is based on the host ZnTe semiconductor where Mn goes into the lattice substitutionally at the Zn lattice site. Spin-glass systems are being investigated for applications in short-term, low-energy memory and processing power that makes these materials interesting for further study. The host ZnTe is also being investigated for applications in solar cell structures. We report on the critical behavior in the 3D Zn0.49Mn0.51Te system. The scaling equation of state and the relation χnl = C1H2/δ describing Zn0.49Mn0.51Te’s spin-glass transition at 20.8 K were used to investigate the scaling behavior. We extracted the critical exponents δ = 5.5 ± 0.5 and ϕ = 4.8 for Zn0.49Mn0.51Te. cWe explored the sensitivity of the value extracted for δ to the critical temperature Tc. These results for our 3D system were found to have strikingly similar values to the critical exponents describing the quasi-two-dimensional spin-glass system Ga1−xMnxS that has been reported to exhibit an anomalous spin-glass transition. Despite their dramatic structural differences, our results provide additional evidence that both the Ga1−xMnxS and the Zn1−xMnxTe systems are part of the class of semiconducting spin-glass materials with short-range interactions.